Business to Nature

The B2N project BUSINESS TO NATURE – Interregional approach to SMEs and entrepreneurship in natural areasis an initiative co-financed by the INTERREG IV C programme, which aims to contribute to economic and sustainable development of European regions by demonstrating and promoting best practices for entrepreneurship development in natural areas.
Eleven institutions from 9 different countries participate in the project: Bulgaria, France, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland and United Kingdom. The total cost of the project, running from January 2010 to December 2012, is of € 1,954,465, of which € 186,360 are intended for Fondation Grand Paradis.

The B2N project will result in the development of strategic documents with good practices and policy recommendations which will help European policy makers in responding to the challenge of reconciling economic development with environmental protection. The project involves representatives of the regional authorities, entrepreneurs and independent experts in order to respond to the needs of different stakeholders and to ensure that the proposed solutions are environmentally friendly.
The B2N project is divided in three phases. During each phase project partners will be organising study visits and workshops combined with strong dissemination efforts to communicate the project’s results both inside and outside participating regions.

During the first phase (Review and evaluation of regional policies), lasting from January to December 2010, partners reviewed policies related to small and medium enterprises with regard to environmental requirements. In June the French partners organized the first study visit, in which they presented the entrepreneurial reality of Auvergne. Thanks to the contribution of partners the project’s official website www.business2nature.eu created in June is now available in the languages of every participating region. The website is a powerful means of divulgation and since the intranet section was created, it is also essential for the project’s internal management.
The second study visit, organised by the Spanish and Portuguese partners, took place in October 2010. Its aim was to make their distinctive features known to other European regions. In this first phase partners carried out interviews and research with regard to local entrepreneurship. Two documents were produced, both of which can be consulted on the project website: Review of policies and current situation in participating regions e Evaluation of SMEs and entrepreneurship policies.

The second phase (from January to December 2011) will consist in the collection, analysis and identification of good practices. Four study visits are scheduled during this phase. The first one will be organised in April by the Bulgarian partners; the second in May by the Perugia province; the third in June by Fondation Grand Paradis, and the fourth in September by the partners from Warmińsko-Mazurskie, in Poland. Two documents will be produced during this phase: Innovative SMEs products and services in natural areas – good practice guide and B2N Good Practices. The former will be edited by an external expert and should be completed by June. Project personnel will prepare the latter document which will be completed by December.

The last phase of the project (Preparation for transfer of good practices), goes from January to December 2012. During this period partners will prepare the transfer of good practices and policy recommendations. The last study visit is scheduled for March and will take place in Slovenia. The closing conference of the project will take place in Wales in September. During this last phase three analyses on policies and strategies for SME will be published: Road Maps (June 2012), B2N Policy Recommendations (August 2012) and B2N exit strategy (September 2012).